Cactus of the Month: Notocactus, Parodia
Succulent of the Month: Aloe

PRESENTER FOR JANUARY IS:  Marquita Ellias –The Canary Islands – They’re out of this World! 

Marquita Ellias will take the audience to space and then return them to the Canary Islands to witness adaptive radiation first hand.  The program will include indigenous plants including Aeoniums, Euphorbia, Ceropegia, Caralluma and other Canarian natives.  The presentation will include six of the seven major islands in this archipelago and will demonstrate the climatic diversity of these islands.  Included in this presentation are pirates, Christopher Columbus and mealy bugs.

    Marquita is a member of CSSA and a member of LACSS for six years and has been scheduling programs for four of those years. The last year has been busy forming the new Conejo Cactus and Succulent Society serving the Ventura County area.  As a California native, born in Anaheim, she received her degree in Civil Engineering from Loyola Marymount University and also attended Scripps Institute of Oceanography.  She worked as a Registered Civil Engineer for over 20 years with a portion of that time spent underwater as a hardhat diver.  She spends her time helping with their family construction business, hiking, mountain biking and tending her collection of aeoniums and adeniums.

BD